"This is exactly what I wanted to talk about."
Gilgamesh spoke steadily and forcefully, his words clear. "Uruk has reached its final hour. The true Tiamat God has broken free from the restraints of Imaginary Space and descended into reality! Quetzalcoatl has already taken Marduk's Axe and headed there, while the Herrscher of Reason and the three Heroic Spirits of the North Wall are holding the front line."
"Tiamat God!?" Ritsuka was stunned.
"You're saying Mother is out too!?" Ishtar stared wide-eyed. "Hey, hey! This isn't something to joke about! If our opponent is Mother, don't we stand no chance at all!?"
"Though I knew your personality had changed, I cannot pretend I did not hear such a pathetic remark!"
Gilgamesh shouted angrily, "That is right! The enemy is an opponent who cannot be defeated head-on, just like Quetzalcoatl and Ereshkigal! But if the Crimson Kite Immortal is involved, I believe we still have a considerable chance of victory!"
Gilgamesh turned his gaze to Amber. "The strike you used to defeat Ereshkigal did not merely sever her attack. It also severed her consciousness. Though the Underworld's protection allowed her to recover quickly, it was undoubtedly highly effective."
"..." Thinking of that blue-haired figure, Amber shook her head. "It would be fine against an ordinary life-form, but Tiamat is a god who has survived in Imaginary Space for who knows how long. If she has long since adapted to Imaginary Space, my attacks may not work on her."
Gilgamesh frowned. He had not expected that answer, but soon shook his head.
"No matter. Expecting to settle this easily was wishful thinking... It is fine if you go with the goal of gathering intelligence. The Persian Gulf is far from Uruk, so there is no need to decide the battle in a single exchange. Search for Tiamat's weakness while coordinating with Leonidas to intercept her."
"Yes!" Ritsuka nodded.
Seeing this, Gilgamesh was in high spirits. He swept his hand grandly and said, "Then depart at once! The battle plan has been explained! The next battle will be Uruk's final battle!"
His voice was full of vigor and confidence. It was not only because he had taken an elixir after his recent resurrection and restored himself to peak condition, but also because the situation before him was far better than he had expected.
In his original expectations, Leonidas, the strongest shield, would die. Ushiwakamaru would die. Marduk's Axe would be destroyed after use. Yet the current situation was completely different.
Not only had none of the Servants under his command been lost since Chaldea's arrival, but Quetzalcoatl was also in perfect condition, Marduk's Axe remained intact, and they had gained two immensely powerful allies: the Crimson Kite Immortal and the Herrscher of Reason.
With such a luxurious lineup, he could not imagine defeat.
The group quickly left the Divine Tower. Ishtar could bring one person aboard Ma'anna, and due to Ma'anna's nature, it could completely block wind pressure. Thus, she took Ritsuka with her.
Amber's method of carrying people through the air was much simpler and rougher—she relied entirely on True Qi to make them fly with her. Without Merlin's magecraft to reduce the wind pressure, it was unsuitable to bring along Ritsuka, whose body was that of an ordinary person, so she took Mash instead.
All four knew the situation was desperately urgent, so they did not waste even a moment and flew at full speed.
Both women were among the strongest. Though Amber was more powerful on paper, Ishtar was still the Goddess of Heaven. Riding a Heavenly Boat that ignored wind pressure, she would not fall behind Amber even at full speed.
At their maximum speed, they flew from Uruk to the Persian Gulf at the edge of the continent in just one hour.
The Persian Gulf no longer showed any trace of clear seawater. All they could see was the Sea of Chaos, where black and red intertwined. One black monster after another sprang from the sea, laughing as they attacked the Servants on land.
At the very front of the land stood the Herrscher of Reason. She looked extremely relaxed, but the irritation on her face could not be concealed. Those monsters could not last even a single exchange against her. With every punch and kick, she turned entire swathes of monsters into bloody mist.
As for the reason behind her irritation, Amber understood it at a glance.
Although these black monsters were nothing more than easy prey to the Herrscher of Reason, the same was not true for the other Servants.
Quetzalcoatl had no problem. However the monsters came, they died. Yet the three Servants from the North Wall appeared utterly overwhelmed amidst the horde.
It was not because they were too weak. In fact, these monsters were opponents they could defeat in just two or three exchanges. But... there were simply too many.
The moment they dealt with one, three or four would swarm around them. The moment they tried to attack one, they would be attacked from another direction. Under such circumstances, let alone defeating the enemy, even protecting themselves was exhausting. Ushiwakamaru and Benkei were clearly struggling, while Leonidas should have been able to handle things more easily, but...
Countless crimson-gold shields formed an unbroken wall, preventing any black monster from breaking through. This was Leonidas's Noble Phantasm. At the cost of maintaining it, he had prevented every monster from landing ashore.
The Herrscher of Reason wanted to trouble Tiamat, but she had no choice but to run back and forth because her teammates were fighting bitterly. Quetzalcoatl was helping Leonidas, but she still had to look after two others. There was no way her mood could be good in this situation.
"Let's go down and help too."
As Ishtar spoke, two Star Stones appeared in her hands, greatly amplifying her magical energy.
"Ma'anna!"
It should be over within eight chapters... 3
The Unsolvable Enemy
Overwhelming firepower swept across the entire frontline shore in an instant, blasting a huge wave of monsters that had surged onto land into pieces.
"You only got here now!?"
The Herrscher of Reason looked toward the sky, the dissatisfaction on her face nearly overflowing.
She was genuinely stifled. Not only was she surrounded by allies, making it difficult for her to fight at full strength, but these monsters were also hideous beyond measure. They were far more disgusting than Honkai Beasts, and the fact that they could speak made them even more revolting.
"Where are Anna and Merlin?" After landing, Ritsuka looked around but did not see either of them.
He had initially thought the two of them were also defending the front line, but apparently that was not the case.
"Merlin seems to be dead. That Anna is currently with some Gorgon." The Herrscher of Reason smashed the last monster beside her with a punch, then complained to Amber as she landed. "What were you doing? Did going down to the Underworld really take that long?"
"We spent most of the time traveling," Amber said.
"Then that's fine." Only then did the Herrscher of Reason nod. This was not difficult for her to understand. Spending three days walking from Mount Taixu to the borders of Shenzhou, taking three seconds to resolve a Honkai incident, then spending another three days returning to Mount Taixu—perfectly normal.
Still, that did nothing to ease her anger.
"Since you're all here, I'll leave this place to you. I'm going to deal with that big one." The Herrscher of Reason pointed at Tiamat in the distance.
Unlike the Tiamat Amber had seen before, Tiamat was now enormous, towering even higher than Mount Ebif. There was not the slightest trace of motherly affection on her face, only a cold and silent indifference that seemed capable of slaughtering all things.
For a moment, Amber could hardly believe this was the gentle woman from her memories.
"Deal with that thing!?" Roman's voice sounded. Looking at the data displayed on the screen before him, even his voice trembled. "That magical energy reading is completely beyond specifications. It is utterly impossible for any known Spirit Base to contain it!"
"Not even Quetzalcoatl and the Immortal can do it?" Ritsuka frowned.
"That's right!"
Roman's tone was certain. "This is no longer a matter of strength. It is a difference in scale. The Spirit Base Tiamat possesses in the present world is simply not something that can exist at the Servant level!"
"You mean the great Lady Herrscher of Reason is inferior to her?" The Herrscher of Reason said unhappily, "Who cares about Spirit Bases? Whether I can beat her or not, I'll only know after I fight!"
With that, she could not be bothered to care about anyone else's reaction and prepared to charge toward Tiamat.
The monsters that had been wiped out by Ishtar's barrage immediately surged in again, but the Herrscher of Reason easily tore open a path through them.
Ishtar followed up with another round of bombardment, and the rest were easily dealt with by the others.
Ritsuka looked at the shield wall behind him, which had begun to turn translucent, and at Leonidas's ugly expression. He knew Gilgamesh's magical energy might already be running low.
He was in the same condition. If they could not stop these monsters from attacking endlessly, then even if Ishtar could use gems to replenish magical energy and power, greatly reducing his expenditure, that did not mean he could sustain it forever.
"Doctor, is there any way to stop these monsters from endlessly pouring out?" Ritsuka looked at his wrist device.
Ishtar descended from the sky. "Hey! Call that childish Fu Hua back! That Black Mud isn't something she can just step on!"
"Xiao Shi!" Hearing that, Amber immediately called out to the Herrscher of Reason.
"I'm not another Fu Hua!" The Herrscher of Reason had no intention of returning, but she obediently stopped and asked impatiently, "What is it now?"
"Though Tiamat possesses all kinds of Authorities, including self-modification, individual proliferation, and biological fusion, and those monsters you call Lahmu are one of her creations... Tiamat's most terrifying power is forced cellular assimilation." Ishtar explained, "Once you are swallowed by that Black Mud, any Servant will be assimilated. Simply put, as long as you touch it, you'll become Tiamat's subordinate!"
"There's something like that?"
The Herrscher of Reason's expression changed. Though she did not believe in superstition, she became much more cautious and carefully studied the black-red seawater ahead.
After examining it for a while, she smiled. "Hah! I thought it would be something troublesome. Watch this!"
With that, she turned to Amber. "Give me back my Core. You can have Feathered Dust."
Amber had no objection. She conjured the long sword out of thin air and tossed it to the Herrscher of Reason, who threw a flower-shaped object into Amber's hand.
In truth, the sword was not the Core, nor was the flower Feathered Dust.
As the Key of Consciousness and the Core of the Herrscher of Reason, neither had any fixed form. Their shape and appearance depended entirely on what their holder imagined. Feathered Dust took the form of a flower only because of the game's influence.
The brick was the same, even though it had now been transformed into a sword.
After obtaining the long sword, a massive greatsword appeared beneath the Herrscher of Reason's feet, two people tall and one person wide. Riding atop it, she flew straight toward Tiamat's enormous body.
Only then did Roman belatedly respond to Ritsuka's question. "There hasn't been enough time. At present, Chaldea has only been able to analyze Tiamat's Spirit Base rank, the nature of that Black Mud, and the nature of those monsters called Lahmu. Other than that..."
In other words, they needed time.
Ritsuka still trusted Chaldea's analytical ability. After all, Chaldea's analysis had helped them more than once.
"But one thing is clear. If we want to stop the spread of the Black Mud and the birth of Lahmu, defeating Tiamat is the only option."
"What if we use Marduk Hand Axe? Are we certain we can kill Tiamat?" Quetzalcoatl had also rushed over by then, her expression grave. "I arrived ahead of the others. Marduk Hand Axe is still being transported. With Jaguar Man guarding it, there should not be any problems."
"...It might work... probably..." Roman's voice was hesitant.
"Why are you so uncertain!?" Ishtar could barely hold herself together.
"Because I have a hypothesis..." Under Ishtar's questioning and everyone's expectant gazes, Roman forced himself to speak slowly. "Tiamat... might not be able to die. No matter what we do to her, we cannot bring her to the death of life."
"You mean her immortality is even stronger than Gorgon's?" Quetzalcoatl's expression turned grave.
Among them, Anna was the only one with a special advantage against immortality, but Anna was currently in Resonance with Gorgon's Spirit Base.
"No... My hypothesis is even bolder."
Roman took a breath before saying, "Tiamat is the Mother of Life. Our existence proves her existence, so she cannot be destroyed... Though my hypothesis runs counter to the conclusion, if it is true, then as long as life remains upon the earth, Tiamat will not die..."
"...Seriously...?"
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Gogh's Determination
"If that's the case... then isn't there no way at all?"
Ritsuka could not believe it, and Amber's brows were tightly furrowed.
She had long expected Tiamat to be far from simple, but she had not expected things to be this absurd... Compared to Tiamat, even Quetzalcoatl seemed rather charming. At least Amber had a way to deal with Quetzalcoatl, but Tiamat...
Amber looked toward the Herrscher of Reason, who had already reached Tiamat's side in the distance, silently praying that Imaginary Energy would work.
But she quickly realized something else. Even if it worked, what then?
How could they kill an enemy that simply would not die?
The Herrscher of Reason knew none of this. Looking at the colossal being before her, an unruly smile appeared on her face as a vast amount of Imaginary Energy flooded into her hand in the blink of an eye.
Unlike other Herrschers, she had no means of directly affecting reality. All she could do was attack an enemy's mental consciousness, making them believe on the level of consciousness that they had died, thereby killing them. But... that was under ordinary circumstances.
Having inherited all of Fu Hua's combat techniques, she had also mastered Tai Xu Sword Qi. Though she had made no progress in the area of Sword Heart, she did not need it.
No matter how useful your Sword Heart is, can it surpass me, a Herrscher?
Black-violet flames ignited around the Herrscher of Reason, gathering in great quantities at her brow. A Garuda manifestation completely different in color from Fu Hua's appeared behind her. The massive manifestation nearly covered half the sky. It was clear that she was attacking with all her strength.
Tai Xu Sword God did not consume True Qi by the number of uses, but by sheer quantity.
A single thread of True Qi could unleash a Sword God using a single thread of True Qi. All of one's True Qi could unleash a Sword God using all of it. If desired, Sword God could even be added to every strike. The only difference was the power of the attack, and with Sword Heart constantly drawing in nearby True Qi for use, Tai Xu Sword God could be said to have no True Qi expenditure at all.
Then what did it consume?
The answer was mental strength.
To invoke Sword God, one naturally had to use one's mind to guide True Qi. How much True Qi could be guided depended on how much effort one was willing to devote.
For Li Sushang, using all the True Qi that Sword Heart could draw upon in a single attack required an immense amount of energy. Thus, it was not that Sword God could be used as a normal attack, but rather that Fu Hua, whose Garuda factors continuously replenished both her body and mind to their best state, could use Sword God as a normal attack.
The same was true for the Herrscher of Reason.
As a Herrscher who controlled consciousness, her mind was equally inhuman. That was why she could open with Sword God without restraint.
Yet even she expended an enormous amount of effort in that instant.
A colossal black bird flew from the manifestation. Comparable in size to several Mount Ebifs, it generated terrifying heat. The people in the distance could even feel as though the sea level would drop from the strike before it had even landed.
"Try this!"
Everyone's Tai Xu Sword God had a different manifestation and attack form. Fu Hua's was Garuda and a crimson greatsword. Amber's manifestation had yet to appear, while her attack took the form of a golden greatsword. Li Sushang's was a swallow and the Xuanyuan Sword. The Herrscher of Reason's was a black Garuda and a black bird shaped like Garuda.
Heat capable of sweeping away everything fell from the sky onto the sea. The boundary between heaven and earth blurred in an instant. The scorching temperature evaporated the entire expanse of Black Mud, and Amber stepped forward to block the aftershock. When everyone regained their sight, Tiamat's body was already kneeling on the ground.
"I see. That enormous weight is disproportionate to those slender legs. Without the Black Mud beneath her, Tiamat cannot even move freely!" Roman discovered another weakness in the enemy.
"Did that hit her..?" Ushiwakamaru was nearly left dumbstruck by the attack.
"No... it didn't." Amber narrowed her eyes. Tiamat's body had not suffered even the slightest damage, so she clearly had not fallen because of the attack.
The Herrscher of Reason's expression darkened as well.
Because she had also realized that her attack had not felt like it had "struck the vital point."
Still, it would not be right to say it had done nothing.
She could sense that Tiamat's consciousness had completely crashed. Though she had not died, her condition could hardly be called good.
Before you continue